Movie Review: Act of Valor

[jllundqu]

I saw this movie last night and thought it was very entertaining. I have the feeling the navy will see a bump in recruiting as a result... maybe that was the point.

As an Iraq War Veteran (2 tours) I thought the film was very intense as far as the combat scenes went. When discussing the film with a neo-con warhawk co-worker, I mentioned how I was a Ron Paul supporter to which he replied, "Dude, peace is easy to sell but really... who's buying?" I almost punched him in the throat.

Anyone else see this movie and what are your thoughts on the film?

Thanks,

 

[jufreese]

Yvan eht nioj

 

[jllundqu]

! ! sknaht on

 

[r3volution]

govt propaganda recruiting tool . and not GRC related .

 

[DerailingDaTrain]

I thought it would be glorifying war a lot and be one of those really over the top movies on everything (they used real bullets). I think that a lot of kids who are the age to join will walk out feeling like a real badass if they joined and shot some "terrorists".

 

[y0kkles]

At least Hollywood is making a movie for once that doesn't bash the military and portray every service member as unstable/extreme. The military, Christians, and conservatives are rarely depicted in a good light in popular culture.

 

[Shane Harris]

heard it was largely funded by the navy. thats always a great sign. from the previews it looked like a recruitment video with no plot since the only draw of the film that they tried to push was that they used REAL NAVY SEALS. propaganda...

 

[Ranger29860]

At least Hollywood is making a movie for once that doesn't bash the military and portray every service member as unstable/extreme. The military, Christians, and conservatives are rarely depicted in a good light in popular culture.

Lol there are plenty of military movies that have come out of hollywood that paint a perfect picture. Its just not the picture some would like to see.

 

[DerailingDaTrain]

The film opened with generally negative reviews. Based upon 86 reviews, it received a 30% approval rating from professional critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Among 29 top critics, it obtained an approval rating of 17% with the consensus saying, "It's undeniably reverent of the real-life heroes in its cast, but Act of Valor lets them down with a clichéd script, stilted acting, and a jingoistic attitude that ignores the complexities of war."[15] Metacritic assigned the film an average rating of 42/100 based upon 28 reviews.[16]

However, despite the negative critical reaction, the film opened at the top of the box office, earning $24,700,000 in its first weekend. Audience reaction was highly positive; moviegoers polled by CinemaScore gave the movie a very strong "A" grade.[17]

Many reviews, both positive and negative, have expressed praise for the action sequences while criticizing the plot and acting. Claudia Puig from USA Today, for example, said the action in the film is "breathtaking," but gave the film an overall negative review, in which she wrote that "the soldiers' awkward line readings are glaring enough to distract from the potency of the story."[18] Similarly, Amy Biancolli from the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "[Act of Valor is] intended to wow audiences with high-test action while planting a giant wet kiss on the smacker of the U.S. military - and it scores at both tasks," but that, ultimately, "the film gets snagged by its own narrative convention."[19] Michael Rechtshaffen from The Hollywood Reporter had a similar opinion, stating, "Although the film has its undeniably immersive, convincing moments, the merging of dramatic re-creations and on-camera 'performances' proves less seamlessly executed than those masterfully coordinated land, sea and air missions."[20] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two and a half out of four stars, and complained that "we don't get to know the characters as individuals, they don't have personality traits, they have no back stories, they don't speak in colorful dialogue, and after the movie you'd find yourself describing events but not people."

sorry for the big cut and paste but that should give people an idea of what the movie is like

 

[Shane Harris]

The film opened with generally negative reviews. Based upon 86 reviews, it received a 30% approval rating from professional critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Among 29 top critics, it obtained an approval rating of 17% with the consensus saying, "It's undeniably reverent of the real-life heroes in its cast, but Act of Valor lets them down with a clichéd script, stilted acting, and a jingoistic attitude that ignores the complexities of war."[15] Metacritic assigned the film an average rating of 42/100 based upon 28 reviews.[16]

However, despite the negative critical reaction, the film opened at the top of the box office, earning $24,700,000 in its first weekend. Audience reaction was highly positive; moviegoers polled by CinemaScore gave the movie a very strong "A" grade.[17]

Many reviews, both positive and negative, have expressed praise for the action sequences while criticizing the plot and acting. Claudia Puig from USA Today, for example, said the action in the film is "breathtaking," but gave the film an overall negative review, in which she wrote that "the soldiers' awkward line readings are glaring enough to distract from the potency of the story."[18] Similarly, Amy Biancolli from the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "[Act of Valor is] intended to wow audiences with high-test action while planting a giant wet kiss on the smacker of the U.S. military - and it scores at both tasks," but that, ultimately, "the film gets snagged by its own narrative convention."[19] Michael Rechtshaffen from The Hollywood Reporter had a similar opinion, stating, "Although the film has its undeniably immersive, convincing moments, the merging of dramatic re-creations and on-camera 'performances' proves less seamlessly executed than those masterfully coordinated land, sea and air missions."[20] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two and a half out of four stars, and complained that "we don't get to know the characters as individuals, they don't have personality traits, they have no back stories, they don't speak in colorful dialogue, and after the movie you'd find yourself describing events but not people."

sorry for the big cut and paste but that should give people an idea of what the movie is like

I basically predicted this exact type of review based just on the previews. It was obvious it was going to be about action scenes and jingoism and not acting or plot, especially since they were using REAL NAVY SEALS. <-- that was even the movie's tagline on posters lol it was the only reason it made money and it was the only draw. ooooh REAL NAVY SEALS??? im def gonna see it. they killed bin laden ya know

 

[bobburn]

Jingoistic propaganda. No thanks.

 

[Tobias2dope]

I saw this movie last night and thought it was very entertaining. I have the feeling the navy will see a bump in recruiting as a result... maybe that was the point.

As an Iraq War Veteran (2 tours) I thought the film was very intense as far as the combat scenes went. When discussing the film with a neo-con warhawk co-worker, I mentioned how I was a Ron Paul supporter to which he replied, "Dude, peace is easy to sell but really... who's buying?" I almost punched him in the throat.

Anyone else see this movie and what are your thoughts on the film?

Thanks,

He may have a point.

I guess war is also easy to sell especially when you have the MIC minnions ramming fear down your throat everyday.

It really sickens me when I see people buying the osama story.

They just threw in that the navy seals got him just to add a little spice to that fried chicken and kool aid that they're force feeding everyone.

 

[bolil]

propaganda review would be a better title for this thread.

 

[Diashi]

2 Neo-con coworkers who I enjoy socializing with asked if I wanted to go see it. Even if it had good reviews, I still don't think I would have gone.

EDIT: wow, that's a lot of "I"s...

 

[DerailingDaTrain]

Yeah. Didn't John Wayne make a movie about 'Nam that got terrible reviews?

 

[BamaAla]

sorry for the big cut and paste but that should give people an idea of what the movie is like

I haven't seen the film, but I'm always leery of reviews.

Critics have it at 29%, but audiences have it at 85%. I usually put more weight on the audience than "professional critics." There are a few sure fire ways to get critic support and damnation: to get the former, be critical of religion, the religious, perceived right wing positions, or the grand daddy...make a gay film. For the latter, hint at a pro-life position, hint at the virtue of capitalism, or reverse the others.

 

[DerickVonD]

I saw this movie last night and thought it was very entertaining. I have the feeling the navy will see a bump in recruiting as a result... maybe that was the point.

As an Iraq War Veteran (2 tours) I thought the film was very intense as far as the combat scenes went. When discussing the film with a neo-con warhawk co-worker, I mentioned how I was a Ron Paul supporter to which he replied, "Dude, peace is easy to sell but really... who's buying?" I almost punched him in the throat.

Anyone else see this movie and what are your thoughts on the film?

Thanks,

Peace sells but who's buying? So your buddy was quoting Megadeth hmm. All modern military movies suck, not just because of propaganda, they just well suck in general. The hurt locker was one of the worst movies I've seen in recent years. Ah the hurt locker its great, isn't it great everyone?(the media). THat movie sucked so bad. You want a good war movie, go get yourself a copy of full metal jacket.

 

[DerailingDaTrain]

I haven't seen the film, but I'm always leery of reviews.

Critics have it at 29%, but audiences have it at 85%. I usually put more weight on the audience than "professional critics." There are a few sure fire ways to get critic support and damnation: to get the former, be critical of religion, the religious, perceived right wing positions, or the grand daddy...make a gay film. For the latter, hint at a pro-life position, hint at the virtue of capitalism, or reverse the others.[/QUOTE

I don't agree with that. Being a movie critic doesn't make you a liberal. I love certain movies that include everything you said (critical of religion, gay film, etc) and that doesn't make me a liberal if I like them and it doesn't make me conservative if I hate them.

 

[Keith and stuff]

Jllundqu, please don't post movie reviews like this in the Ron Paul Grassroots Central section of the forum ever again. Thank you.

 

[pacelli]

The last propaganda film I chose to watch was The Chekist (in russian with english subtitles).

That's all I need to know. That is their plan for dealing with the mundane proles. A factory of death.